Hey everyone, this is my first post here on ADF! I wanted to bring awareness to all you authors/readers out there about a lil problem called plagiarism. I know ya'll know the definition as such but I wanted to also spread awareness about this fic that's been nominated for a Twilight All Human award (the author deleted her stories off FF and twilighted) and is a stolen fic. The author still has the story posted on my vamp fiction and it has been reported. However I wanted to get everyone to know about this author, this story and that to look out for each other because she has a habit of taking super popular fics from any fandom and stealing their plot, dialogue and descriptions nearly down to the word. The original fic she stole can be found here -- http://web.archive.org/web/20080205061000/madame.homestead.com/UDMain.html.
Her MVF page with the stolen fic is here: http://myvampfiction.com/dungeon/viewuser.php?uid=165
This author also works with PTB as a beta (or so she says on her profile on twilighted) if any of the admins of PTB are on here please be aware that this author: Brandy_D is a plagiarizer and should not be trusted. I have evidence of this treachery here:
The original story Ugly Ducklings by Brenda was written around 2004-2005. This author, Brandy_D is a former bsb fandom reader/writer has changed the names and changed it from Third person pov to first person pov. What don't believe me? Well I have proof. Enough proof that this story was removed from Fanfiction.net. While she changed descriptions the plot is nearly exact and so are the characterizations and some of the dialogue. Here are my examples of proof.
Brandy's version: From her Chapter two
“Please don’t jump.”
I said the words as softly as possible from behind her. The last thing I wanted to do was startle her into jumping. Her arms wrapped around her now half-naked body and she shook her head despondence.
“Go away.”
I stepped around in front of her, but she didn’t move to look up at me. “Don’t,” I said again, my voice still a whisper.
“This is none of your business.” Her voice shook with anguish, yet I could barely hear her.
“It is now,” I said with determination in my voice. If this girl thought I was going to stand here and allow her to kill herself, she had another thing coming.
A whimper escaped her. “No,” she said in a tiny voice.
I wasn’t going to argue with her, but I also wasn’t going away. I stood in front of her, affectively blocking her from the icy water.
“Please,” she begged. The pain in her voice was visceral. It cut through me, but I stood my ground, not moving and not saying anything.
Finally, she looked up at me. “Do you have any idea how much courage it took for me to get here?” she said defiantly.
“None,” I said honestly. She blinked in astonishment. “The courage comes,” I continued, “when you turn around and walk away from this.”
She winced at my words and slowly shook her head.
“Just suck it up and go on.” I wasn’t trying to be cruel. I was trying to break through to her. “What could be so bad that you can’t get over it?” I asked. I hadn’t actually meant to say it aloud and really didn’t expect an answer. It was a rhetorical question.
She, however, didn’t treat it that way. Her face was a mask of pain as she said, “My parents tried to hire someone to marry me.”
Now here's the same scene from the award winning original story Ugly Ducklings from Chapter Five:
“Don’t.”
The word came softly from behind her. Her hands became still. She clutched the blouse tight in her fists.
“Go away.”
He stepped around in front of her. She didn’t look up at him. “Don’t,” he said again, his voice still a whisper.
“This is none of your business.” Her voice shook with anguish. He could barely hear her.
“It is now,” he said with determination in his voice.
A whimper escaped her. “No,” she said in a tiny voice.
He wasn’t going to argue with her, but he also wasn’t going away. He stood in front of her, between her and the icy water.
“Please,” she begged. The pain in her voice was visceral. It cut through him, but he stood his ground, not moving and not saying anything.
Finally, she looked up. “Do you have any idea how much courage it took for me to get here?” she said defiantly.
“None,” he said. She blinked in astonishment. “The courage comes,” he continued, “when you turn around and walk away from this.”
She winced at his words and slowly shook her head.
“Just suck it up and go on,” he said. He wasn’t trying to be cruel. He was trying to break through to her. “What could be so bad that you can’t get over it?” he asked. He hadn’t actually meant to say it out loud, and he wasn’t asking for specifics. It was a rhetorical question.
She didn’t treat it that way. Her face was a mask of pain as she said, “My parents tried to hire someone to marry me.”
Funny how nearly exact they are in wording but just changes the pov from third to first huh? Well there you have it. This story: Your Ugly Duckling My Bella Swan is a stolen version of Ugly Ducklings a Nick Carter fic that was loved in the fandom. If you want to read the real story that is complete please go to the URL above. This story has been reported to the admin of Twilighted and has been pulled by the admin of Fanfiction.net.
Plagiarism is a foul and dirty thing whether from stealing the main plot, dialogue or literally copy and pasting the story. I'm truly saddened to have to report this kind of thing in this fandom especially on someone who I used to call a friend in the BSB fandom. All you readers have been sadly duped by a thief and an imposter. I apologize to be the bearer of such bad news but there is a reason that plagiarism is illegal.
Want more proof here it is!!
From the original story Chapter 6:
John Fremont furrowed his brow. “It wasn’t a big deal. He said…um…oh yeah, I remember…we were talking about tennis…and he said that he missed playing…and I said that Abigail played…”
Abby groaned. “Oh, Daddy, you didn’t.”
“Sure I did. He doesn’t know many people in town. What could it hurt you to invite him to the club for a tennis match?”
“But what did he say about her?” demanded Sharon.
“When I said that Abigail played, he said, ‘yes, that’s right, she was just coming in from tennis the day I was at your house.’ And then he asked if you had recovered from the Bishop trade?’”
Abby laughed and so did her father. Her mother was clueless about baseball, however, and didn’t have any idea what they were talking about. “What? What’s that? What’s a Bishop trade?”
Abby and her father shared a smile. Abby’s faded immediately at her father’s next words.
“I think I’ll invite him to the Club on Sunday for tennis and brunch.”
Abby’s heart sank. She knew what would happen. Her mother would fuss around and say embarrassing things to try and make Abby more palatable, talk about her work with this Committee at the Art Gallery or that one with the Symphony or her volunteer work with underprivileged children. They’re not underprivileged, Abby would respond, they’re deaf. Her mother would wave her protest away and continue her quest to help Abigail land a man.
“Daddy…” she said, nodding her head at her mother.
John Fremont nodded. He understood exactly what she meant. “Okay, then, you call him up and invite him for tennis during the week, then. He’s staying at the Renaissance.”
“He hasn’t found an apartment yet?” asked Abby, wondering why this question wasn’t coming from her mother.
“No, he wants to get established in business first,” said her father. “You’ll call him?”
Abigail nodded. Thanks, Daddy for putting me between the rock and the hard place. Either I call him on my own, or you’ll send Mother after him! Not much of a choice there!
So she called him.
From Brandy's chapter two:
My dad furrowed his brow. “It wasn’t a big deal. He said…um…oh yeah, I remember…we were talking about tennis…and he said that he missed playing…and I said that Isabella played…”
I groaned. “Oh, Daddy, you didn’t.”
“Sure I did. He doesn’t know many people in town. What could it hurt you to invite him to the club for a tennis match?”
“But what did he say about her?” demanded my mom.
“When I said that Isabella played, he said, ‘yes, that’s right, she was just coming in from tennis the day I was at your house.’ Then he asked if you had recovered from the Bishop trade?’”
I laughed and so did my father. My mother was clueless about baseball, however, and didn’t have any idea what they were discussing. “What? What’s that? What’s a Bishop trade?”
I shared a smile with my dad; however, it faded immediately at my father’s next words.
“I think I’ll invite him to the Club on Sunday for tennis and brunch.”
My heart sank. I knew what would happen. My mother would fuss around and say embarrassing things to try to make me more palatable, talk about my work with this Committee at the Art Gallery or that one with the Symphony or my volunteer work with underprivileged children. They’re not underprivileged, I would respond, they’re deaf. My mother would wave my protest away and continue her quest to help me land a man. However, you’d never once her hear talk about my being in the Peace Corps for three years….that was beneath us.
“Daddy…” I said, nodding my head at my mother.
He simply nodded. He understood exactly what I meant. “Okay, then, you call him up and invite him for tennis during the week, then. He’s staying at the Renaissance.”
“He hasn’t found an apartment yet?” I asked, wondering why this question wasn’t coming from my mother.
“No, he wants to get established in business first,” he replied. “You’ll call him?”
I nodded. Thanks, Daddy for putting me between the rock and the hard place. Either I call him on my own, or you’ll send Mother after him! Not much of a choice there!
So, I called him….biggest mistake of my life!
Still not convinced it's plagiarism and transposition? Here's even MORE proof:
Lauren - Veronica Howell
Bella Swan - Abigail Fremont
Edward - Nick Carter
Clearly this is an open and shut case of plagiarism. The dialogue and descriptions are so similar as is the plot (just changing character names and povs from 1st to 3rd). I'm really saddened that Brandy - a former friend of mine - has stooped this low. She has deleted her fics off of twilighted and ff.net because she says "I have a literary agent and they don't want me to write fanfic to be taken seriously in the publishing community". She emailed me after I told her she'd been reported that she'd only taken them down because she was sick of fanfiction and I gave her the excuse to get out of it. If any of the admin for MVF are on here I've emailed the site administrator and also emailed the administrator for the Twilight All Human awards for which this plagiarized fic has been nominated.
My whole purpose in writing this isn't to black ball a writer from the twilight fandom. Its to raise awareness that plagiarism is wrong and should be punished. She has been reported to FF.net and Twilighted. Her profiles have not been suspended because she took down her work that she plagiarized. She said in her email that the plagiarism was not intentional and that she was planning on making the stories very different from each other. You can tell from the evidence above that she had no such intention.
If anyone from PTB knows that if she is in fact a beta can you tell me how to contact the admins of PTB? I think this makes a black mark upon them to have a plagiarizer beta-ing other people's work.
I'm sorry for the VERY longwinded post for my first post. I'm really excited to be here, but I figured since there are so many great authors and readers here that this would be the best place to spread awareness! Thank you so much for your time and help!